Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

Ma Yue seemed rooted to the spot, his back ramrod straight, his face taut, and his lips pressed into a stubborn line. The surrounding air seemed frozen by his obstinacy, and even the wind held its breath.

Sun Shangxiang was getting anxious and quickly squatted down, gently advising, "Yue'er, don't you always say that you admire your father the most? Don't you always call yourself the 'Divine Might Heavenly General' and say that you want to be as powerful as your father? Look, your father has come in. Quickly go forward and pay your respects, and call him Father."

Ma Yue remained motionless, his head drooping even lower, the stray hairs on his forehead obscuring his eyes, making it impossible to see his expression. Only his slightly trembling shoulders betrayed his emotions.

Zhou Yu stepped forward, patted his shoulder, and said with a hint of helplessness, "Why are you so stubborn, child? This is your father. How can you be so rude today? You neither bow nor greet him."

Ma Yue suddenly turned to the side, avoiding Zhou Yu's hand. His voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, yet it carried an undeniable stubbornness: "Uncle, I have uncles and maternal uncles, but... I have no father."

These words were like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly creating ripples.

Ma Chao's smile froze, his brows furrowed, and the eagerness in his eyes faded, replaced by a complex and difficult-to-decipher emotion: shock, hurt, and a hint of barely perceptible panic. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found his throat felt blocked, and he couldn't utter a single word.

"What nonsense are you spouting, child!" Zhou Yu grew impatient and raised his voice. "Isn't your father right here? Haven't you always been proud of him?"

Ma Yue remained silent, only pursing his lips tightly, as if suppressing something. After a while, he suddenly broke free from Zhou Yu's hand, turned around, and ran towards Shamoke, who was not far away.

Seeing this, Shamoke quickly opened his arms. Ma Yue threw himself into his arms, hugging his neck tightly, his little shoulders trembling as he said, "Uncle, I miss my mother. Let's go see my mother, okay?"

These words were like a key, instantly unlocking the floodgates of Shamoke's tears. This usually tough man's eyes instantly reddened, his throat choked, and his voice became terribly hoarse: "Okay, let's go, your uncle will take you to see your mother, let's go now."

He carefully picked up Ma Yue and gently patted his back with his large hands, his movements unusually tender.

Ma Chao stood there, watching their departing figures, feeling an emptiness in his heart, as if a piece had been ripped out. Ma Yue's words, "I have no father," had pierced his heart like a needle, causing a sharp, stabbing pain.

Zhou Yu sighed and patted his shoulder: "This child, he's probably still blaming you for what happened back then..."

“I know,” Ma Chao interrupted him, his voice heavy with exhaustion. “I’m the one who has wronged them.”

Seeing that Ma Yue was about to leave, the children immediately squeezed through the crowd surrounding Ma Chao and ran after him, their cheerful shouts rising and falling.

"Big brother! Wait for us!"

"General! Wait!"

The little figures, like a flock of fledglings chasing a flock of geese, chirped and chattered behind Ma Yue.

Ma Chao stared at the small figure, his fingertips trembling slightly. Dong Bai gently pressed his arm and said softly, "My lord, the child has probably not seen you for a long time, and now there are so many unfamiliar faces like us. It's normal for him to feel a little awkward."

Ma Chao's Adam's apple bobbed, and before he could respond, Sun Shangxiang had already walked quickly to him, her eyes slightly red: "Brother Ma, it's me, Shangxiang. Yue'er isn't usually like this... This morning, knowing he was going to pick you up, he changed his clothes before dawn and waited here with his little brother, repeating 'Father is coming back' several times..."

She paused, her voice hoarse: "Perhaps I was too excited, and that's why I acted so awkwardly."

Zhen Mi stepped forward, her gaze sweeping over the direction Ma Yue had gone, and said softly, "I'm afraid it's not just a matter of estrangement. This child lost his mother at a young age and longed for his father's return, but now he sees us all around you... Perhaps he feels that even his father's return has been taken away, and thinking of his mother all alone, he feels a tightness in his chest."

"That's it!" Zhou Yu slapped his forehead and said with annoyance, "This child is precocious. When his mother passed away, he clenched his fists and didn't shed a single tear. Today's stubbornness must mean he's stuck in a rut!"

Ma Chao watched Ma Yue's retreating figure, his small frame standing ramrod straight, like a stubborn weed. His heart felt as if it had been repeatedly crushed by a blunt instrument, the pain almost suffocating him.

“This child…” Ma Chao’s voice was hoarse as if it had been sanded, and every word was filled with the pain of blood.

The wind swirled fallen leaves past his feet, the children's shouts grew fainter and fainter, and Ma Yue's figure flickered around the corner before disappearing completely. Ma Chao closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, a layer of moisture had welled up in them, but he forced himself not to let it fall.

“Let’s go,” he said hoarsely, “to see his mother.”

Dong Bai silently handed over a handkerchief, Sun Shangxiang clutched his sleeve, Zhen Mi lowered her eyes and pressed her chest, even Zhou Yu composed himself—some pain never needs to be spoken, yet it can weigh heavily on everyone's heart.

With heavy hearts, the group followed Ma Yue to the outskirts of the city. Salier's grave was neatly tended, with fresh wildflowers blooming before the tombstone, indicating it was regularly cared for. Shamoke squatted beside the tombstone, his fingertips gently tracing the name inscribed on it, his profile appearing particularly forlorn in the wind.

Ma Yue's small figure knelt before the grave, his forehead gently pressed against the cold tombstone, as if whispering to the deceased. The children behind him followed suit, kneeling down, heads bowed, barely daring to breathe. The scene was heartbreakingly quiet; the wind whistled through the woods, adding to the desolation.

The crowd stood a short distance away, none of them speaking. Ma Chao took the incense and paper money offered by the person next to him, walked slowly to the tombstone and placed it down. He reached out and gently stroked the cold stone, his fingertips trembling slightly when they touched the three characters "Sariel".

"Lier, I'm back." His voice was low and hoarse, as if it came from a great distance. "We agreed that I would go to Chang'an to settle things and then bring you and the child back, but I never expected..."

He paused, his eyes reddening, his voice choked with emotion: "I was ambushed by the Emperor in Chang'an. The battle was devastating. Everyone else... everyone else was left there except me." He looked at the group of children behind him, his eyes filled with sorrow, "including their fathers."

Tears finally streamed down his face. He wiped them away and continued, "Li'er, it's not that I didn't want to see you. I was in a coma for months after surviving a near-death experience. After capturing Chang'an, I wanted to come and get you immediately, but then I heard that Bo Fu had died on the way to the campaign to avenge me. How could I not go and avenge him?"

"But just as I had reorganized the army, I received an urgent report that Xiliang had been invaded by foreign tribes. Not only Xiliang, but also Bingzhou and Xiqiang had fallen."

Ma Chao clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white. His voice was filled with uncontrollable pain and indignation, as if each word was being squeezed out from between his teeth: "Three hundred thousand barbarian hooves trampled the northwestern border, burning, killing, and looting. The people were displaced, and the corpses piled up like mountains! That is the place where I was born and raised, my roots! How can I sit idly by?"

His chest heaved violently, as if he had returned to the battlefield where corpses littered the ground: "I led my soldiers in one fierce battle after another, and drove those foreign tribes out of the border! The following spring, I led my army to the grasslands again, and for two whole years, I turned the Xianbei's stronghold upside down and slaughtered a million of their people. I wanted to let these wolves know that the Central Plains is not a place where they can run wild!"

Shamoke suddenly stood up, his eyes bloodshot, staring intently at Ma Chao: "So you prioritize the affairs of the state? Brothers? So you've forgotten Li'er? Forgot she was waiting for you? Forgot her death, forgot she left you with this son?"

"I haven't forgotten!" Ma Chao roared, his eyes bloodshot and veins bulging on his forehead. "I dream of her every night! I dream of her lying in a pool of blood, calling my name! I dream of Yue'er crying and calling for her father, asking where her mother is!"

He slammed his fist into a nearby stone pillar, sending stone chips flying: "But behind me are millions of people, and vast territories! If I retreat, who will protect them? I can only charge forward, even if a piece of my heart is torn out, I cannot retreat!"

Ma Yue raised his head, his small body standing straight. He looked at Ma Chao, his eyes filled with confusion and grievance, but not hatred: "Mother is a hero. She died protecting my brother Sun Shao. I know she was brave, and I've never blamed you. I've always been proud of you. You risked your life for the world and for the people. I think Father is a hero too..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the women accompanying Ma Chao, his voice lowering: "But you brought so many people here today, who...who are they? Have you forgotten your mother? What are you doing here?"

Ma Yue's voice was like a stone chilled by ice, crashing into the silent cemetery, each word carrying the sharpness and pain unique to a young man. He tilted his head back, staring intently at Ma Chao, his eyes so much like those of Sharil back then, clear yet burning with rage.

Ma Chao froze abruptly, his armor suddenly feeling as if it weighed an immense weight, pressing down on his back and causing him to stoop. He tried to reach out and touch Ma Yue's head, but the boy forcefully shoved him away.

“Yue’er…” His voice was hoarse, his Adam’s apple bobbing, but he couldn’t utter a single word of explanation. The women accompanying him turned pale and instinctively took a half-step back. They truly loved Ma Chao, but to Ma Yue, they were the villains.

Zhou Yu stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Yue'er, your father isn't..."

“Uncle!” Ma Yue turned his head sharply, his eyes red-rimmed. “You were there when my mother died! My mother protected Sun Shao and me. She loved him with her life, but what about now? He has no shortage of women around him!”

Ma Chao's chest heaved violently, his knuckles clenched so tightly they turned white, his nails almost digging into his palms. He suddenly ripped open his shirt, revealing the inner lining he wore underneath, where a worn-out silk handkerchief was sewn on, embroidered with the crooked character "Yue". "I carried it with me for three years, killing my way from the northwest to the grasslands. Not a single one of those foreign tribes that crossed the border returned alive!"

"So what?" Ma Yue's voice suddenly rose, trembling with sobs. "Can my mother come back to life? Can she see you sweep the grasslands clean? She only hoped that you could spend the Lantern Festival with her, and you can't even do that!"

These words were like a dull knife, repeatedly cutting into Ma Chao's already scabbed wounds. He suddenly knelt down, his forehead slamming heavily against Sally's tombstone with a dull thud that made the surrounding weeds tremble: "I'm sorry to her... I'm sorry to her... But behind me are millions of people, a crumbling border. If I take a step back, ten thousand families will be destroyed like ours..."